MP

Jason Wood (LIB) since 2004.

Profile

588 sq.km surrounding Cardinia Reservoir in the Dandenongs, including the nearby suburbs of Boronia, Ferntree Gully, Upwey and Beaconsfield, along with parts of Narre Warren North and Berwick in the rapidly growing south-east corridor of Melbourne.

History/Trivia

La Trobe was created in 1949 and named after Victoria's first Governor, Charles La Trobe. Former members include the Liberal Party's Richard Casey (1949-60) and John Jess (1960-72), and Labor's Peter Milton (1980-90). Won by the Liberal Party in the anti-Cain swing of 1990, it has been retained since despite its narrow majority. Another mortgage belt seat where the swing to Labor was depressed in 1998, Labor's vote up just 0.4%, the swing back to the government by 2.7% in 2001. Despite the retirement of its sitting MP in 2004, the Liberal campaign against the Scoresby tollway saw the Liberal margin rise by 2.2% in 2004.

2-Party Booth Result

The Liberal Party won 30 of the 42 booths used in 2004, its vote rising from 40.7% at Selby Primary School to 74.0% at Clyde Primary School.

Main Candidates

The sitting Liberal MP is 39 year-old Jason Wood, who won this seat in 2004 on the retirement of Bob Charles. Wood was a member of the Victorian Police for thirteen years, and before his election worked as a Senior Sergeant with Victorian Police Counter Terrorism. While in the police service, ha was active in organising youth groups, he has received a Federal Centenary of Federation Medal for service to Youth and a Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award for outstanding service to the community. Labor's candidate is 31 year-old Rodney Cocks, who until recently was working with the United Nations in Afghanistan. Cocks has also seen service with the United Nations in Iraq and East Timor. He was injured in the bombing of the Baghdad United Nations headquarters, and was on holiday in Kuta at the time of the Bali bombings, receiving the Conspicuous Service Medal for his work in the aftermath of the bomb. He was proclaimed Victorian of the Year in 2005, the same year as he wrote a book, 'Bali to Baghdad and Beyond'.

Issues and Polls

Labor changed candidate suddenly in August 2007. Labor's first pre-selected candidate had been Firefighters Union official Greg Pargeter, but he had been coming under personal attack from within the Labor Party. In a sudden coup, he was dumped by the Labor National Executive, replaced by military adviser Rodney Cocks, appointed at the same time as he joined the party, and pushed into the contest with a significant increase in Labor's campaign fund for this seat. The Liberal Party have been personalising their campaign on the local work of Jason Wood, though the seat has seen regular appearances by the Prime Minister, usually to announce spending of money on local LaTrobe projects. Kevin Rudd has also been a regular visitor to the seat, suggesting that LaTrobe will be a seat to watch on election night.

Assessment

A seat that probably has an inflated buffer given the apparent success of the Liberal campaign against the Scoresby Tollway in 2004. Labor's new candidate and a big increase in the Labor campaign fund make this seat a more interesting contest than it had initially appeared.